Starting device for gas-engines.



eponfin w.

STARTING DEVICE FOR GAS ENGINES. Arrpwmxon FILED $3213.17, 1907.

' Patented Jul 18,1911.

{SHEETS-SHEET}; v

Patented July 18,1911.

' 2 snnfims-snfifi a.

r .5 n .e M

N QHED STARTING pnv cmoa e-As ENGINES.

Agrmomlon FILED 5521131907.

STATES} P TENT OFF CE.

eusrAirE enn'mw, or nurrlitdivnw wortx, AssiGNoR won. a. Tnoiuns moroncomgkmg, orzaurrano, NEW roams cosaroma xoiv on NEW YORK.

i To aZZ mm as my mam.-

" provide citizen-ho France, at Bufi'alo, in the county of Erie and Statebf New York,

have invented anew and useful Improve ment in Starting Devices for Gas-Engines, or which the following is .a specification.

This invention relatesto a'devioe for starting gas engines, and has the object to a simple and efiicie-nt device for this purposew 'chui's so constructed that part ofthe 'exp oded charges of fuel during the-ordinary" operation. of the engine "are stored in a reservoir. under pressure and are subsequently utilized as the mot ve agent for efi'ect-iiig'the initia forward movement of the pistonand startin% the engine.

In the accompanying rawingsuconsist ing of2 sheetsrFigure 1 is a sectional ele- '20 vation showing my improved v starting device. applied to' a inulti-cylinder four stroke voir andiadjacent parts. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section thereof in line 7=-7, Fig.6.

jrespondin-g I n v ews.

Similar letters of reference indicate corparts throughout the several Although my invention is applicable to a single'cylinder gas engineas Well as to a multi-(-. v linder engineof any type, I have shown the same in the drawmgs in connection with a four-cylinder gas engine ofthe four stroke cycle type. 1, 2, 3, 4, represent the cylinders of: the'engine whit-hare arranged in a rout and have their pistons 5,

, 6, i" and 8 connected respectively by rods 1 or pitmen 9, 10,11 and 12 with cranks 13,

14, 15 and 16 on a crank sha-ft 17.13The' cranks 13 and 15 are preferably arranged on one side of the crankshaft while'the cranks 14 and '16 arev on the opposite side of the. crank shaft so that the pistons'in the cylinders land 3 move in unisonand iii a direction opposite/to the pistons 2 and 4, which latter pair alsomove in unison. This engin may be provided with any suitable or ap' iro dffuel supplying, exhausting and igniting mechanism and such details have;

therefore not'been shown in the drawings.

at the upper ends thereof. :several branch pipes and the main pipe is i STARTING DEVICE E0111 GAS-ENGINES.

Specification of netters 'eatent. Patented July 118, 1911. application filed September 17, ieu'rf' serial no. 393,311. i

rawings in connection with the four cylinders of this engine, as am -example, is

constructed as follows:

:18 represents a storage tank, reservoir on improved startingdevic e as *shown in it e chamber iiito which part of the exploded charges'of fuel areconducted from the several engine cylinders and storedl'iirein in a compressed condition so as to serve as a pressure medium which is subsequently conducted backdiito these cylinders for restart- .ingthe engine after the same has been stopped. The burned or dead gases are 0011- i ducted from the several cylinders to this storage reservoir or chamber and then returned from the latter to the cylinders when required for use by a'conduit which prefer-- ably comprises a main pipe 19 communicating with the storage reservoir or chamber and a plurality of branch pipes 20, 21, 22

and 23 communicating with the firing ends of the engine cylinders 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. As shown in the drawings, the'main pipe communicates with'the' storage reser- VQIIKOI' chamber a't the upper end thereof and'the branch pipes communicate with the several engine cylindersthrough the heads Between the arranged a controlling or distributing valve whereby the several engine cylinders are successlvely placed n communication w-ith the storage reservoir or chamber so that a f :part of theexplodin chargein each cyl inder may at the proper time be conducted from each cylinder-to the storage chamber and part of the compressed gases in the storage chamber may in like manner he returned to each of the engine cylinders for effecting the, initial working stroke of its piston.

sists of a casing 24 having a conical seat and provided on different quarters of its periphery with side nipples or ports 25, 26, 27 and 28 which communicate, respectively,

with the four branch pipes" leading to the a main e 105 several cylinders 1, 2, 3 and 4, an nipple 'or port 29 connected with the upper or large end of the casing and communicating with the main pipe and a conical plugr- 3Q rotatable in the valve seat iof thecasing and having distributing ort 31 which 1 opens at one end upwardly rough the top of the plug so as to be constantly in com- ..munication with The preferred form of valve for, this purppse shown in the drawings conthe mam port and pipe the iacket.

while the piston therein is moving forwardly with a working stroke. In order to prevent this valve from becoming unduly heated and rendered inoperative by the hot gases passing through the same, means are provided for -keeping the'same means preferably consist of a water ac ket 32 surrounding the valve casing and having a water inlet 33 and a water outlet 34, whereby water may be circulated through The means for driving the valve plug of the distributing valve shown in the drawings consists of a cani or counter-shaft 35 arranged parallel with the crank shaft and driven from the latter at the rate of one turn of the crank shaft to two turns of the 40, 1 with the'counter shaft and a cam or counter-shaft by means of a spur pinion 36 arranged on the crank shaft and meshing with a spur gear wheel 37 on the counter-shaft, a valve shaft composed of an upper section 38 which small end of the valve plug 30 and a lower section 39 which is operatively connected by a pair of intermeshing miter gear wheels clutch for connecting and disconnecting the valve shaft sections, comprising a'collar 42 secured tothe lower shaft section 39 and provided on its upper side with clutch teeth 43, a clutch sleeve 44 splined on the upper shaft section and provided at its lower end with clutch teeth 45 and a spring46 hearing at one end against a collar on the distributing valve casing and at its other end against the top of theclutch sleeve and operating normally to hold the clutch teeth of the latter in engagement with those of the collar 42 for coupling the shaft sections. While storing a part of the gaseous products from the severalengine cylinders in the storage cham her and accumulating pressure in the latter and also while conducting the compressed gases, the several cylinders for starting the gngine, the shaft sections 38, 39, are coupled y. distributing yalve becomes operative and places each ylinder in turn ,in communication with the storage chamber, but when the engine is running normally and a full charge of compressed dead gas is contained in the storage chamber the clutch sleeve 44 is, raised so as to'uncouple the shaft sections,

thereby arresting the rotation of the discool which v is connected with thehe clutch between the same, so that the.

tributing valve plug and avoiding undue wear of the same. At this time the storage chamber is also preferably cut-off from the distributing valve and cylinders by means of a cutoff valve 62 preferably arranged in the main pipe, thereby holding the charge of pressure medium in the storage chamber under constant pressure and avoiding interference with the working of the engine at this time. The clutch and the cut-off valve are preferably operated simultaneously so as to disconnect the valve shaft sections and close the main pipe when the desired pressure in the storage chamber has been ,obtained and to couple the valve shaft sections and open the main pipe when it is desired to transfer the pressure medium from the storage chamber to the engine cylinders for starting the same.

Means are also provided for automatically uncoupling the clutch and closing the cut-off valve when the pressure in the storage tank has reached the normal or predetel-mined point and automatically coupling the clutch and opening the cut-01f 'valve when the pressure in the storage chamber drops below the normal or predetermined point. The means for this purpose shown in the drawings consists of an elbow lever having an upper bifurcated arm 47 engaging with an annular groove in the clutch sleeve, an elbow lever connected with the rotary plug 63 of the cutoff valve and having a lower arm 48 connected by a rod 49 with the lower arm 50 of the clutch elbow lever, a cut-off cylinder 51 having one of its lower ends communicating with the interior of the storage chamber, a cut-off piston 52 reciproeating in the cut-off cylinder, a piston rod 53 connecting the cut-off piston with the up-' per arm 54; of the cut-off valve lever and passing through the upper end of the cut-off cylinder, and a spring 55 arranged to move the cut-off piston toward the inlet of the cutoff cylinder. For the purpose of permitting the cut'ofi' valve to be opened and the clutch I to be coupled by hand for starting the engine various means may be provided, that shown 1n the drawings consisting of a hand lever 56 and a rod 57 connecting the hand lever with the lower arm of the cut-off valve lever.

Let it be assumed that the storage reser- .voir or chamber contains a charge of pressure medium and that the clutch has been coupled and the cut-off valve opened by the hand lever 56, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 6. In this position of the parts the pressure medium will be conducted from the storage chamber into the upper end of that engine cylinder whose piston is in a position to effect its working stroke whereby this piston will be moved forwardly and thecranle shaft will be turned, In doing so another engine piston will be brought into position x s off the pressure medium is, working stroke under I 50 voir or cha'inber.

to cheat its working stroke and the .v-dis tributing valve will thepressure medium into the cylinder con- 1 tainingthe last mentioned piston and cut from the previous cylinder, whereby the next engine piston will also be moved forwardly with 'a Working stroke. This operation is repeated for ea'ch of; the succeeding enginecylinders so "that the pistons therein are also moved for-.

wardly during their initial working stroke by the pressure medium from the storage chamber. After'the engine has completed theifirst cycle of operations, a charge" of fresh gas is drawn into andiignited in the engine cylinder which was first supplied with the pressure "medium, therebycausing thepiston therein to be moved forwardwith the action of the ZOf-exploded charge of iful in its cylinder,

' ""y-which operation is repeated successively in several cylinders in the order in which the were "supplied with the pressure medium ,i from the'storage chamber, thereby causing 2?; the 'enginevto run normall In thus starting'the engine'byopen-ing the cu't-fofli valve, piston is moved'downwardl itci the"engine has been-started'and is running under the-explosions of each of'these' cylinders is turn placed in communication with the storage reservoir .orLchai'nbErby the distributingfvalve while an 'eztplosion of fuel .is fticul'a'r ,cylinderjwherebya portion of the eigplode'dfuelis conducted fromlthis cylin- Ider to the storage chamber andhis" stored underp'ressure in this chamber. As each cylinden in succession contributes .a portion 4 0 of its'explodedcharge in thisv inanner-to the storage chamber the pressure in the latter gradually rises or increases and when the pressure in the 'swrage chamber has reached I amorm'alor predetermined point the'cut-oif' piston is moved= upwardlypr forwardly overcomingthe re'sistancefofi its spring closing the cut-off valve, thereby'preventing the further admission of xploded gases from the engine? cylinders into the storage reser At the same time Q the clutch {is uncoupled 'so as to avoid turning of the :distributing valve. f Thischarge of i 1 gaseous-pressure medium is mow retained in .the'storagechamber for use 1n starting the engine the next time after it has been 'stpped. V

en the pressure inthe storage reservolr is 'very-high jt may be very diificult to open the cut-ofl valve by means of the hand lever owing to the resistance which the cut-off I ""pis'tert encounters. To permit atsuchtimes of easily placing the reservoir in communication with the engin 'cylinders'va' valved by-epass is provided which "extends around 5 thefctzt-dfl valve the same preferably: coir be turned so as to admit es'h gaseous fuel occurrihg inthat pare crank shaft by therefrom and dro tom thereof.

sisting of a pipe 5 connected'at one end with .the'imain plpe above the cut-off valve and at itslowrendwith the top ofthe res; ervoir, and a hand operated-bypass valve 59 arranged in the lay-pass pipe, as shown in Fig.,;l. Upon openlng the valve 59 the pressure medium passes from the reservoir ing the piston in that particular cylinder to bepro elled with a Working stroke. The escape o voir for eiihcting the movement of the first engine piston permits the cut-off piston 52 ,to immediately descend and couple the clutch -so as, to cause the distributing. valve to. ;be turned and connect the other engine c linderssuc'scessively with :the reservoir. il the pressure of the. air is below normal in thechamberl8 the clutch, is held in its coupled: position by'the spring? 4:6, tlie tension of which is pro erly -ad justed for this purpose; After t 'e-engine has been started the operator closes the bypass ,valve so that the automatically operated .cut-ofi' valve is the sole means of communication between the engine cylinders and the storage chamber, thereby permitting explodingmharges from the engine cylinders; to reenter the storage reservoir. or chamber and automatically close the CIlt Ofi valve ',when the pressure in" the storage chamber has reached the normal. I; a a In order tovdirect the compressedlcharge from the pressure reservoir or hhamber into one of the cylinders of the-engine in starting theisame it is necessarynto turn the hand sd-as to bring the distributing port of the distributing valve into register with one of the-;bran ch,ports of its casingn'f f Themain pipe preferably'has' {terminal top ofthe storage chamber into the central part of the same and-is provided with a plurality of perforations 61;, extending from burned gases delivered from the engine cylinders [into the storage chamber are dis' tributed. uniforml' over the same and di- 18 tothai engine which islconnected by the distributing valve with the reservoir, causressure medium from the reser- "60 which'extends downwardly through the its bore to its periphery. By this means the vided into a plura ity of minute jets where-y by cany moisture contained in the gaseous product is caused-to separate more readily storage chamber. he liquid accumulating on thobottom of the storage chamber due to the bottomeof the v to the separation-of this moisture from the exploded as'es is drawn ofi from the storage cham r' from time to time through. a drain cock or valve 620 applied to the bot- Instead of utilizing a part of the exr may beqcharged withanyother wplo'ded charges of 'fuel in the cylinders as I the rcssure medium in the stbragethamber the latte prising dium amon connecting the ,counter shaft, and a clutch for connecting piston backward'ly, said cut-oil valve, and a rod connecting said pressure medium such as carbonic acid gas in which case the controlling valve will be used only fordistributing the pressure methe several cylinders of the engine and Wlll'IlOll be utilized for connecting the several cylinders with the storage tank and accumulating therein parts of the explodingcharges of the several cylinders.

I claim as my invention:

'1. A starting device for gas engines commedium, a conduit for connecting said reservoir with the engine cylinder, a valve for controlling said conduit having a casing provided with ports opening toward the reservoir and the engine cylinder, respectively, and a plug rotatable in the casing and having a port adapted to connect and 4 disconnect the ports of'the'casing, means for the crank shaft of counter-shaft intermeshing spur gears'connectin the crank and counter shafts, a valve sha t composed of two sections one of which is connected with said plug, intermeshing miter gears other section with the driving the plug from the engine comprising a and disconnecting the sections of the valve shaft, consisting of a toothed collar ar ranged on one section, a toothed sleeve splined on the; other section, and, means for moving said sleeve so as to engage its teeth with or disengage the same from those of said collar consisting of a. spring operating to move the sleeve in the direction for the clutch, and a lever engaging coupling with the sleeve and adapted to move the same in the direction 'for uncoupling the clutch,-substantially asset forth.

2. A starting device for gas engines com-j a reservoir for storing a pressure.

prising medium, a conduit for connecting the reservoir with 'the engine cylinder, a "cut-off valve arranged in said conduit, and having a rotatable plug, and means for automatically opening and closing said valve con- ,sisting of a cut-off cylinder communicating with the reservoir, a said cylinder and adapted to be moved for wardly by the pressure in the cylinder and reservoir, a. spring opera-ting to-move the an arm connected with piston arranged in arm and piston, substantiallyns set forth.

3. A starting device for gas. engines comprising a reservoir for receiving a pressure medium, a conduit for connecting said reservoir with the engine cylinder, a cut-off valve arranged in the conduit, means for automatically operating said cut-ofi valve by the variation of pressure in the reservoir, a controlling valve arranged in'the conduit an operating device ifo'r said controlling Copies of this patent ma be obtained for valve arranged in a reservoir for 'stonng a pressurev plug, a controlling around said valve and having provisions pressure from the tank to "SlStlng of a cut-off five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. G.

valve embodying armcn, and means interposed between said clutch and cut-oil valve and operating to uncouplc said clutch,when the cut-off valve closes and vice-versa, substantially as set forthr" 4. A starting device prisingameservoir for receiving a pressure medium, a conduit for connecting said reservoir with the engine cylinder,

the conduit, and having a rotatable. ,plug, a cut-off cylinder communicating with the reservoir, a piston arranged ingthesg cut-ofl cylinder and operativelyconnected with the cut-off valve valve arranged in the conduit and havin a rotatable plug, a driving device torfsaxd controlling valve plug having a sectional shaft, a clutch for coupling and uncoupling"the sections of the sectional shaft, and a connection between said clutch and the plug of the cut-off valve which causes these parts to operate in uni-v son, substantially as set forth.

5. A starting prising a reservoir for storing a pressure medium, a conduit for connecting said reservoir withv the engine cylinder, a valve ar ranged inthe conduit, a iston connected with said valve and operaEed upon by the pressure within the reservoir, a handle connected with said valve a by-pass extending a valve arranged in the b o-pass, substantially as set forth.

6; n combination withan internal combustion motor,- a tank, and aoontrol valve with connections to said tank and to 'each ofjthe, cylinders of the motor, said valve for admit-ting gas under lnders in succession, and for permitting the for gas engines com each of the cyl-' a cut-off device for gas engines com- Ibo products of combustion generated in'the' cylinders to create pressure in the tank.

. -7.-In "a gas' engine inzcombination, a

reservoir for stormga pressure medium, a

conduit for connecting the reservoirjwith the engine cylinder, a cut-off valveaj'rangedautomatij. opening and closing, said valve con-' cylinder "communicatingmeans for in sai conduit, and

cally with the reservoir, a piston arranged" in said cylinder and adapted to be moved for I wardly'by the pressu're in the cylinder and reservoir, a spring operating to move the piston. backwardly,

an" arm connected with said cut-off valve, and a rod connecting said arm and piston.

Witness my hand this 14th dayof Septe'mlir, 1907.

GUSTAVE GHEDRU'.

lVitnesses:

HnnMAn J. HASS, JO N KRUCHTEN.

Commissioner of Patents. 

